The Phone Call - Sentimental Sunday No. 41

The phone rings. It’s 9am; you answer it. It’s the phone call you’ve been waiting for; the one that you have prayed for. Your adoption social worker is on the other end of the phone and announces “We have a baby boy for you. When would you like to pick him up?” Numerous questions and a phone call to your husband later you decide to get him on March 2nd. That’s just two days away from now. And you DON’T HAVE ANYTHING IN THE HOUSE TO TAKE CARE OF A BABY! No diapers, no clothes, no crib, no formula… Nothing! You didn’t know a birth mother was considering you. You hadn’t a clue. And now the biggest day of your life is here!

It’s spectacular really! This was the scene in our home 15 years ago today. I received the BEST phone call ever. Two days (and lots of shopping) later - the most beautiful person in the world came into our lives.

So many have said to us that J.J. is lucky, but we don’t look at it that way. We’re the lucky ones. We’re lucky and thankful that his birth mother chose us to be his parents. What a difficult and heart wrenching decision that must have been for her. We bless her and thank her for that decision. And we thank God for seeing that the three of us were “meant to be”. We are a perfectly matched family!

We have a saying between the three of us... "Together ~ Forever"! And, we will be!

Tough Day

Today is a difficult day. This is the day my Dad died - 17 years ago. Each year I remember the events of that day, and it makes me so sad. But most of all I remember the love we had for each other. He was the best Dad ever - and I will miss him for the rest of my life.

I love you Dad... Always!

Genealogy - Sentimental Sunday No. 40

I've been neglecting my blog lately. Both of my blogs in fact! I've had my head stuck in Ancestry.com for the past couple of weeks. I'm researching my family and scanning old family photos. I've come across quite a few photos that don't have any names written on them - and I have NO idea who they are. Frustrating. I am the oldest generation in my family - with the exception of my cousin. However, she doesn't know anything about my Dad's family, only my Mom's. (She's my Mom's First Cousin).

This is my Great Grandmother, Delia Bailey. She was my paternal Grandfather's Mom. I don't know too much about her yet. I do have some information about her father, Elihu Bailey. For instance, he was involved in the organization of the Republican Party in 1856.

This is her first husband, my Grandfathers father, Allen Porter. Really don't know ANYTHING about him. Having a terrible time trying to find out when he died - or even what happened to him really. On the back of this photo someone wrote in 1920 - missing for 27 or 28 years. That was pretty shortly after their third son, my grandfather, was born. I don't know the year that either of these photos was taken. Anyone have an educated guess?

Mardi Gras Celebration

Although Fat Tuesday is still a few days away, we celebrated tonight with good friends. As always there was tons of laughter, lots of food and a few beverages too! We had a GREAT evening! The table was set in Mardi Gras colors - purple, green & gold!

We were waiting for our guests to arrive!

John - wearing his shirt that we bought in NOLA on our last trip.

Happy Family - Kerry, Dodi & Alyssa

Rob, Scott & Dodi

The party is over. It was a FABULOUS night!

Learning To Drive - Sentimental Sunday No. 39

Cindy - age 16

Watching my son take the test for his learners permit this past week brought back some funny memories for me of my dad teaching me to drive. Dad and I had a great relationship, but we clashed in the way that we did things. We were very much alike and we both had our ways of doing things. But, if it wasn’t done my father’s way – it wasn’t done correctly… according to Dad anyway. In any case, a few recollections come to mind when I remember those scary days of learning to drive. Exactly who was more frightened, me or my dad, I’m not really sure.

While teaching me to drive, Dad took me to a large empty parking lot in the Marina Del Rey area which was not too far from our home. I had pretty much mastered the art of driving forward by this point. Dad wanted to teach me to drive and steer going backwards. My friend Susan was with us for this particular driving lesson. I was driving, Dad in the passenger seat and Susan sitting behind my dad. Dad explained how to turn the wheel while driving backwards – but it was a little challenging for me. I felt all “turned around” – no pun intended. He was getting a little frustrated with me, so Susan decided to “help me out”. While I was looking backward to see where I was going Susan had her hands in her lap, but she would point in the direction that I should be turning the wheel. That happened a couple of times before my Dad said, “I can see you Susan. Stop telling her which way to turn the wheel.” To this day neither of us knows exactly how he knew. But, that was my Dad… eyes in the back of his head.

Across the street from that same parking lot Dad wanted to teach me to Parallel Park. I was so nervous and I was really bad at getting the car “just so”. Lots of going forward and backing up was going on. The cars that I was practicing between were Mercedes, and Jaguars, and BMW’s. Needless to say, one by one, people were coming out and moving their cars. Hmm… not a great way to give me much confidence. I still think of that parking lesson every time I parallel park - and to be honest, I still doubt my abilities in that area. Oh well, a couple more years of therapy and I should be just fine! Tee hee hee.

All in all Dad was a great driving instructor. He gave me wonderful and useful advice. His voice has come back to me a few times in my life during rather terrifying driving moments. His words have helped me avoid disaster. I hope that JJ will benefit from both Richard’s and my driving knowledge the way I benefited from my Dad’s. If he does, I guess in a way my Dad will be teaching him to drive too and imparting some of that vast and experienced driving ability.

Go See

the movie "Crazy Heart" starring Jeff Bridges.

photo from blog.80millionmoviesfree.com

He absolutely deserves all of the accolades and awards he has received thus far. Loved the movie; loved his performance; Maggie Gyllenhall was really good too.

Geaux Saints

Drew Brees -

photo from saintsofneworleans.wordpress.com

If you know us, you know that New Orleans is our "home away from home". Our adopted home town. We love it there. So, you know who we'll be pulling for in the SuperBowl this weekend. Geaux Saints! We love you!

Reggie Bush (we've loved him since his USC days)

photo from zimbio.com

Another Milestone

It seems like just yesterday that he took his first steps, started speaking in sentences, lost his front teeth and went to pre-school. But, the years have flown by and he reached another milestone this week. A quick trip to the DMV, a driving knowledge test and posing for a photography later... we have a young man who is the proud owner of an Oregon Driving Instructional Permit. Good Lord! Now what do we do???